Oscient Pharmaceuticals Completes Sales Force Expansion; Company enters respiratory tract infection season with 300 representatives in field

Business Wire,  Oct 3, 2005  

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WALTHAM, Mass. -- Oscient Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: OSCI) has expanded the number of primary care pharmaceutical sales representatives detailing its products to 300. The national sales force is focused on promoting Oscient's fluoroquinolone antibiotic, FACTIVE(R) (gemifloxacin mesylate) tablets and Auxilium Pharmaceuticals' TESTIM(R) 1% testosterone gel. The 50 newest representatives, hired by Innovex, the contract sales arm of Quintiles Transnational Corp., have recently completed training and are now fully deployed in high potential territories.

"By adding representatives to geographies that offer greatest potential, we are significantly increasing our call frequency on target physicians, which we believe will result in market share growth for FACTIVE and TESTIM," stated Steven M. Rauscher, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Oscient and Innovex worked together to recruit and hire these experienced representatives expressly for promoting FACTIVE and TESTIM. These representatives recently completed training and will begin detailing high prescribers with their Oscient counterparts today.

The respiratory tract infection season is beginning, and for the most recent week available (week ending September 16), total FACTIVE prescriptions dispensed were approximately 3,400, up 55 percent from the lowest week in the off-season (nearly 2,200; week ending July 29). The 3,400 prescriptions dispensed during the second week of September compare to less than 250 prescriptions dispensed during the same period in 2004 (week ending September 17), our first month of launch.

"With a three-fold increase in sales representatives from the initial launch of FACTIVE last year, we are well-positioned to have a significant impact during the respiratory tract infection season," added Mr. Rauscher. "After exploring co-promotion partnerships for FACTIVE with a number of companies, we believe that retaining full ownership of FACTIVE at this time will provide better value for our shareholders. While we remain open to the possibility of forming a partnership in the U.S. or in other licensed territories that maximizes shareholder value in the future, our primary focus today is to maximize sales of FACTIVE during this season with our newly expanded sales force."

About Oscient Pharmaceuticals

Oscient Pharmaceuticals Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company committed to the clinical development and commercialization of novel therapeutics to address unmet medical needs. The Company is marketing FACTIVE(R) (gemifloxacin mesylate) tablets, approved by the FDA for the treatment of acute bacterial exacerbations of chronic bronchitis and mild to moderate community-acquired pneumonia. In addition to the oral tablet form, Oscient is developing an investigational FACTIVE intravenous formulation for use in hospitalized patients. The Company is also promoting Auxilium Pharmaceuticals' TESTIM(R) 1% testosterone gel to primary care physicians in the U.S. Oscient has a novel antibiotic candidate, Ramoplanin, in advanced clinical development for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD).

Forward-Looking Statement

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding (i) growing the FACTIVE share of voice in the fluoroquinolone class and increasing the number of physicians familiar with TESTIM, (ii) the impact that the expanded sales force may have on sales during the winter season, and (iii) our ability and willingness to enter into a partnership with respect to FACTIVE. These statements represent, among other things, the expectations, beliefs, plans and objectives of management and/or assumptions underlying or judgments concerning matters discussed in this document. Forward-looking statements typically are identified by use of terms such as "may," "will," "should," "plan," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. We do not plan to update these forward-looking statements. You should be aware that our actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements due to a number of risks affecting our business. These risks include, but are not limited to, (i) whether we will be able to file the proposed NDA prior to the end of the year and whether any such NDA will be approved so that we can expand the indications for which FACTIVE is approved, (ii) the delay in or inability to obtain additional regulatory approvals of our products and product candidates due to negative, inconclusive or insufficient results in ongoing or future clinical trials, the FDA requiring additional information or data, delays in the progress of ongoing clinical trials, safety concerns arising with respect to our products or product candidates and disputes with the third parties from whom we license our products or product candidates and (iii) our inability to successfully commercialize FACTIVE or promote TESTIM due to: the limitations on our resources and experience in the commercialization of products; lack of acceptance by physicians, patients and third party payors; unanticipated safety, product liability, efficacy, or other regulatory issues; delays in recruiting and training sales personnel; problems relating to manufacturing or supply; inadequate distribution of the products by wholesalers, pharmacies, hospitals and other customers; and competition from other products. In addition, there is no assurance that the Company will enter into a co-promotion agreement with respect to FACTIVE on terms that are favorable to the Company or at all. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested in any forward-looking statement are described under the heading "Factors Affecting Future Operating Results" in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ending June 30, 2005 and in other filings that we may make with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.

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